


Redemption

by blutterfly



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-06-10 22:35:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15301524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blutterfly/pseuds/blutterfly
Summary: Xehanort has been defeated, Terra is still a Keyblade wielder and he is about to pass the Mark of Mastery exam once again in order to become a Keyblade Master. He is diving into the last sleeping worlds, some worlds he has already visited, and he is fighting his darkness in this examination.





	Redemption

The sun was slowly rising up on the Land of Departure, as one of the resident of the world was preparing himself for the upcoming examination. The young man was tall with deep blue eyes and brown hair that reached the base of his neck. He had unusual dark rings under his eyes because he had stayed up all night long, not being able to fall asleep as his brain was keeping him awake, thinking about what would happen today, thinking about bad things that could happen. He had tried to brush off these negative thoughts that were only making the situation worse, but he hadn’t succeeded as he was extremely exhausted; he had only gotten his body back a few weeks before and he was still not completely used back to it.

He was now standing in front of the mirror that was in his room, looking at himself with a worried expression on his face. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself. The exam would happen in a few hours and he couldn’t show up like this, looking like a zombie. He grabbed some fresh clothes from his closet and headed towards the exit of his room. He slowly opened the door and found himself face to face with one of his two best friends, Aqua, a beautiful tall woman with blue hair and blue eyes. She had her hand ready to knock on the door, but the man had been faster than her.

“O-Oh, hey, Aqua,” he started saying. “Did you need anything?”

“No, not really,” she replied, slowly shaking her head. “I just wanted to see if you were up already… A-Are you alright?”

The woman noticed the bags under her friend’s eyes and started to worry. Terra realized that he couldn’t really hide the shadows under his eyes, so he understood why his friend was making this sort of face.

“Um, it’s nothing, don’t worry. I just… couldn’t sleep.”

“What was keeping you awake? Is it the Mark of Mastery exam, or… the past?”

The tall man looked away. Was it too obvious for everyone? He felt stupid for still thinking about the past so much, he should just move on and start anew, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t let go of his failures, of his mistakes. His friends almost died because he was too gullible and he couldn’t forgive himself.

“I just… I don’t think I’m ready. How can I face everyone after what I’ve done? What if I end up giving into the darkness again? What if I end up hurting everyone and almost losing you and Ventus…? I don’t believe I am strong enough, maybe I should just go away until I am–”

“Terra.” Aqua said, loudly, which made him come back to Earth and realized what he was saying. She was staring straight into her friend’s eyes and she gently grabbed his hand to make him feel at ease. “Terra, it is not your fault, and you need to understand that. No one blames you and no one wants you to go away. Everyone believes in you, everyone wants you around, everyone knows how strong you are. We’re not asking you to fight your darkness and win overnight, we’re asking you not to give up even though you slip. No matter what happens, I want you to know that nobody is leaving your side, we will always stand by you and help you. We are part of your strength, so don’t push us away.”

The young man felt warmth in his heart, a warm feeling that made him feel strong and capable of anything. He clenched his free fist and told himself that all he had to do in order to succeed during the exam was to hold onto that feeling. He smiled at her friend, a determined expression on his face, and thanked her before leaving to take a shower.

*

A few hours went by and the Keyblade wielder was now standing in the biggest room of the castle, facing his old Master’s chair. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath again, before opening them back. His fists were clenched with determination and his eyes showed a serious expression as he spoke.

“Master. So much has happened since you left, but I know you haven’t really left. I know that you’re still here and watching over me.” He slowly put a hand on his chest, feeling his heartbeat. “I will not disappoint you or fail you this time, Master. I think… I think I finally understand what the true strength is. It’s not only physical strength, but it is also the strength of the heart. The warmth I feel here… A warmth that comes from my friends’ support, with their strength, I cannot be defeated. My friends… It’s like they’ve become a part of my power. I would be nothing without them.”

The man had a relaxed smile on his face, his heart felt at peace, just by realizing all of this. He turned himself, ready to leave, when a boy’s voice called him. A small boy with spikey, blonde hair burst into the room, running towards his tall friend. The latter ruffled the blonde’s hair when he stopped in front of him.

“Hey, Ven! What’s up?”

“I wanted to wish you good luck! I’m pretty sure you’re gonna succeed this time! You can do it, Terra!” Ventus said, a huge smile on his face, as he was excited for his friend.

“Thanks, Ven. I really need it. As long as you and Aqua believe in me, I know I can do it.”

After this short conversation, the brown-haired man walked out of the castle and hit his arm plate to activate his armor. He then threw his Keyblade into the air, changing in into a vehicle to help him travel through different worlds. He jumped on the vehicle and left the Land of Departure to reach another world.

After a few minutes, he reached his destination: the Mysterious Tower. The old Master who lives on top of this tower had asked him to come here in order to pass his Mark of Mastery exam. Terra looked up to the crooked tower with a look full of determination. He nodded to himself and ran toward the building, excited and motivated to finally get another chance to become a Keyblade Master, an opportunity he had been waiting for forever.

“Master–”

“Ah, Terra. I was waiting for your venue.”

An old man, with long, grey hair and a long, grey beard, wearing a blue robe and a conical blue hat with yellow stars and moon, was turning his back to the door where the young man had come. He was looking at the sky through the window of the tower, feeling relaxed to be finally at peace without any war. The old man finally sat down after a few moments, while Terra was standing still, waiting for the Master’s instruction on the examination.

“Even though we defeated Xehanort, there are still some worlds that are sleeping. I would like you to go to these worlds and free them from their slumber. The task may seem easy, but you will have to face some challenges harder than the previous ones, therefore, you should never let your guard down. In order for you to complete this assignment, you will be accompanied by what we call “Spirits,” with which you will have to defeat the Nightmares that torment these worlds.”

After a few more explanations about the sleeping worlds, the old Master stood up and raised his right hand towards Terra, casting a sleeping spell on him. The latter soon started to feel tired, his eyes were slowly closing themselves. He only had the time to sat down on the floor, leaning his back against the wall, before losing consciousness.

When the brown-haired man opened his blue eyes again, he found himself lying on the ground of a completely different land than the Mysterious Tower. He slowly got up on his two feet and looked around. He was standing inside a house, on a wooden floor. He guessed he was in someone’s room as there was furniture around him, but everything was… way bigger than him. Or he was the one way smaller than everything else.

“Wh-what happened to me!? Why am I so small!?” All of a sudden, the floor started to quake, making Terra fall down. “Whoa, what was that?”

He jumped back on his feet and turned around, ending up face to face with the source of the tremor: a person. Indeed, as he was very small, a normal person’s steps would feel like earthquakes to him. He looked up to identify who was the newcomer, but he soon realized that a hand was coming down, towards him. He gasped and instantly summoned his Keyblade, ready to fight that giant figure. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t have the time to land a hit on the person before the hand grabbed him gently and pulled him closer to the giant’s face.

Terra was now standing on the palm of the person’s hand and he quickly look around to see how far he was from the floor, feeling a bit dizzy to be this high.

“Who are you?” A feminine voice asked.

“This voice…” Terra said to himself.

The tall man raised his head towards the source of the voice and took a step back when he realized he knew this person. She was a tall, blonde woman with blue eyes that he had met before losing his body. She had helped her to accomplish her dream and she had helped him to realize a dream’s power.

“C-Cinderella!?”

“Have we met?” The young woman asked, tilting her head a bit, confused.

“Y-yeah, it’s me, Terra, remember? I helped you getting to the ball–”

“Oh, but I haven’t been to the ball yet…” The blonde replied, as her smile fade away into a sad expression. “It will take place tonight, but I am not sure I will be able to go…”

“Huh? But…”

The man stopped himself and took his reflection pose as he started to think about the situation. Could this be one of the effect of the sleeping worlds, he asked himself. Cinderella seemed not to have met him yet, so he should probably stop talking about it. Maybe helping her out was the thing to do in order to free this world and bring it back to how it was.

“Don’t worry. I’ll help you out!” Terra finally said, a confidant smile on his face.

“That is nice of you, thank you very much.”

“Cinderellie!” A new voice shouted. “Cinderellie!”

Terra looked around, trying to find the source of that new voice, when he noticed a brown mouse on the edge of the window.

“Oh, hello, Jaq!” The blonde woman said, putting Terra down next to the newcomer. “I’ve found you a new friend, he said he would help me going to the ball.”

“Pleasure to meet you, the name’s Terra.”

“Nice to meet you too, Zugk-Zugk! I’m Jaq! I’m makin’ a dress for Cinderellie, I’ve already gathered some items, but I could use some help to find more!”

“Of course, I’d be happy to help. What do you need?”

“I still need a few buttons and some yarn for the dress! Oh, you seem strong, Zugk-Zugk! You should probably be able to grab that pearl from Rucifie.”

“Who?” Terra asked, tilting his head.

“Rucifie! He’s the big and mean cat of this house, he is always in the living-room. If he sees you, he will try to eat you immediately, Zugk-Zugk! Be on the lookout for him!”

“Got it.” Terra nodded.

Then, the brown-haired man started to run towards the mousehole that would lead him to another room, but Jaq shouted his name, having something else to say. The man stopped himself and turned to the mouse who threw a vial at him, which he grabbed easily.

“I found this on my way here, but I don’t know how to use it. Perhaps you’d know how, Zugk-Zugk!”

The Keyblade wielder looked at the vial; inside, there was a ball of light that seemed to be resonating with Terra’s heart. It soon turned into a dinosaur-looking animal, colored in orange and green, but it was not exactly a dinosaur, it was one of the spirits that Master Yen Sid had mentioned to Terra before he started the examination. The young man gently pated his new friend, he was pleased with how it looked like, he felt that it was really a spirit made for him because of its strength.

“I see. You’re a Spirit,” Terra said, a little smirk on his face, proud to have such a great companion. “Alright, let’s go.”

The wielder resumed his quest and left Cinderella’s room to find the remaining items for the dress. In the mousehole, he came across the enemies that he had been told about: the Nightmares. Instinctively, he summoned his Keyblade, Earthshaker, and took them down in no time, thanks to the help of his Spirit.

Once he arrived in the living-room, he checked everywhere to find the buttons and the yarn. Some of them were in some drawers on the furniture, while others were on top of the furniture. On his way around the room, he had to fight lots of Nightmares, sometimes giving him a hard time.

The only item left was the pearl that was guarded by this ‘Rucifie’. The brunette looked around the room to find that cat, but he didn’t seem to be here at the moment, but the pearl was. It had been left on the couch, the young man told himself that he was very lucky today. He quickly ran towards the pearl, climbing the pieces of furniture to get there.

When he finally reached the sofa, he grabbed the pearl and looked around, expecting some enemies to show up, but nothing happened. He tilted his head and frowned a bit, as he was a little suspicious. But he then shrugged and told himself that he must have had defeated all the Nightmares of the area. He looked at the big pearl in his hands, a proud smile on his face.

“Time to go back!”

Terra jumped off the couch and headed towards the mousehole as quickly as possible. When he arrived at the halfway point, he received a huge hit, right in the ribs, ejecting him to the other side of the room. He tried standing up again, a hand on his side where he received the blow.

“Wh-what was that…?” He said, grunting.

The Keyblade wielder look at what punched him away like that: it was a huge cat colored in dark blue and purple.

“Is that… Is that ‘Rucifie’?”

The brunette’s eyes widened, the enemy was about to strike again. He quickly dodged the hit by running to the left, but he fell down again due to the sudden pain in his ribs. The Nightmare didn’t think that Terra would dodge the new blow, therefore, it had charged full speed at the wall and was now knocked out. The wielder’s spirit next to him tried to help him stand up, he was then able to summon his weapon and immediately casted Cure on himself.

In the meantime, the enemy had regained its consciousness, and was ready to attack the brunette once again. The latter, who was feeling better after healing himself, was now ready to fight alongside his dinosaur companion. The two of them attacked the giant cat, one on each side of the animal, but the enemy was still countering them by turning around with high speed, making his tail blow the two of them. Terra got smashed into the wall due to the strong attack and fell down on the floor with a huge pain in his back. “Not again…”

“If you seek power, you have to awake the darkness in your heart,” a voice echoed in the man’s head.

“Who are you? Who’s there!?” The Keyblade wielder quickly jumped back on his feet and searched around, but nobody was here except his Spirit and the Nightmare.

“Use the darkness, this is the only way,” the voice said once again. The brunette suddenly felt a severe pain in his heart that made him fall on his knees.

“No… I won’t use it, I don’t need it…” Terra forced himself to fight this horrible feeling, he couldn’t give in, he couldn’t fail anew. He thought about all the hard work he did since he got his body back, about everything that happened, about all the trainings when he repulsed the darkness. He couldn’t give in, not after all this. Not when his friends believe in him. His friends… Ventus’ and Aqua’s face appeared in his mind, slowly giving him strength.

The man opened his blue eyes with fierce determination. He was able to heal himself once again and looked at the fight that was happening in the same room he was in. His dinosaur Spirit was still giving its all against the cat Nightmare. What could he do? Attacking at the same time didn’t seem to work. He put a hand on his chin and started to think of a solution.

“I know!” He finally told himself.

The Keyblade wielder tightened his grip on his weapon and joined his Spirit who was attacking the enemy’s left side. “Together!” He said, looking at his companion. The both of them charged at the side of the enemy. Their strength joined together made the giant cat roll on his back, making it impossible for it to jump back on its paws. Terra took this opportunity to jump on the animal’s stomach and slammed Earthshaker in the tummy of the enemy, making it fade away.

“We did it!” Terra happily said, looking at his companion who seemed happy too.

Then, the both of them returned to their previous location, Cinderella’s room, where they brought back all the stuff that Jaq had asked for. The Keyblade wielder helped the brown mouse to finish the dress for their blonde friend. Once it was over, the pearl started to glow and Terra’s weapon appeared in his hand, surprising the young man. The latter looked at it, then at the pearl and nodded, as if he had guessed what that meant. He pointed the Keyblade at the pearl and a beam of light came out of it, meaning that the world had been free from its slumber.

The brunette suddenly felt sleepy and started to fall down, his eyes closing themselves.

*

Meanwhile, at the Mysterious Tower, a small, red and yellow Gummi ship had landed. A brown-haired boy with spiky hair that seemed to go towards the sky came out of the ship, followed by his two companions and also best friends, Donald and Goofy, a duck and a dog. The three of them ran towards the tower and opened the door. The boy was climbing the stairs really fast, excited to finally reach his final destination, while his friends were telling him to slow down. Once he arrived on top of the tower, he happily opened the round, wooden door while shouting “I’m back,” with a huge smile on his face.

“Ah, Sora. What a pleasure to meet with you again,” the old Master said. He was still sitting at his desk, his elbow on the workspace and his hands joined together. He had been looking over Terra, who was sat down on the ground, his back leaning against the wall, for a while now.

The newcomer crouched near his friend and looked at him, gaping. “Terra is passing the exam as well? I’m sure he can do it!” He said before standing up again. His two companions had finally caught up with him, they had just come into the room, panting.

“I hate these stairs,” Donald mumbled.

“Come on, Donald! Don’t tell me you’re already too old for this?” Sora replied, teasing his duck friend.

“Well, at least, I’m not the one who sleeps for ages while others do all the work!” Donald retorted.

“Excuse-me!?” The brunette leaned forward to meet Donald’s head, they had both their hands on their hips and glared at each other.

“Gawrsh, come on guys, we just came back from our mission, let’s not start a fight,” Goofy stepped in, as he didn’t want to see his friends fight.

The both of them back down and looked away, their arms now crossed on their chest. Master Yen Sid, who had watched the whole scene, couldn’t help but chuckle a bit, which made the trio realize that they were in the presence of a Keyblade Master. They immediately tensed up until the Master told them to relax.

*

The tall brunette woke up in another world, as expected. He was slowly opening his eyes, covering them because of the bright sun in the sky. When he was completely awake, he stood up and looked around. He was standing in a kind of garden, the grass under his feet had a bright green color. There were many flowers with numerous insects near them, around him. Behind him, there was a path leading to a dark forest, and in front of him, he could see a castle in the horizon.

“Hey, wait. I know this world…” Terra said to himself, putting a hand on his chin as he started thinking. After a few moments, the memories came back to him. “That’s it! I’m in Dwarf Woodlands, Snow White’s world. And there is also that Evil Queen and her mirror here…”

The Keyblade wielder realized that his Spirit was there too, and he decided to pet it, a smile on his face. Suddenly, some noise came from a bush which made Terra rapidly turn to the source of the noise while summoning his weapon, ready to fight any enemy.

“Who’s there!?”

A hooded silhouette appeared from behind the bushes and walked towards Terra. He could see the face of an old woman and he immediately quit his fighting stance, making his weapon disappear at the same time. ‘Oh, it’s just an old lady,’ he told himself. He walked to her and decided to propose his help, noticing that the newcomer was carrying a basket full of red apples.

“Do you need any help, Your Elderness?” The brunette asked, gently grabbing her by the arm to help her walk. “Where are you going?”

“I am headed towards the Dwarfs’ house, at the end of the Deep Woods.” She answered, apparently not startled by Terra’s companion. “Thank you for your help, young man.”

“Of course, it is my duty to help people,” Terra replied, nodding to the woman, a smile on his face.

The two of them slowly entered the next part of the world. It was a dark forest which boded no good. The tall man decided to stay on his guard, in case enemies would show up, he was carefully looking around, trying to hide his distress from the old lady. As expected, some Nightmares appeared in front of them and Terra instantly summoned his Keyblade, while the woman tightened her grip on his arm, shrieking.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take them out in no time. Stay close to me!” The brunette told the woman.

The enemies charged at Terra who protected himself with his weapon. He pushed it away and slammed the hugged Keyblade on it. He then casted fire spells at the two Nightmares remaining. He told the woman that they could go on and they started to walk again, with caution. More enemies appeared and this time, Terra decided to charge at them. He took down two of them, but one had found its way to the old lady who screamed. The Keyblade wielder quickly ran towards her and hit the Nightmare with his weapon, making it disappear.

“Let’s go!” Terra said, panting a bit. He gently grabbed the lady and tried to rush to the exit of the woods, but a bigger and stronger enemy, looking like a huge bear, showed up, blocking the way out. “Oh, come on!”

The brunette took a step back, waiting for the Nightmare to do something so he could analyze its movement and not ending up hurt like in the previous world. Unfortunately, the enemy did nothing, making the man sigh. He tried to cast a blizzard spell, but it rebound on the Nightmare’s belly; Terra dodge it at the last moment.

“Whoa…” He said, looking at the ice continuing its way behind him. “I guess frontal attacks won’t work. I have to find a way to distract him…”

Terra looked around and laid his eyes on his companion. A smirk appeared on his face. Of course, he had someone to help him, why not take advantage of the situation? He nodded his head at his Spirit who seemed to immediately understand the wielder’s intentions and started to attack the belly of the enemy. The tall man quickly and quietly rolled behind the Nightmare and started to hit its back, putting all his strength into his attacks. After a few blows, the enemy noticed he was attacked from both sides and counterattacked by spinning around, using his huge paws as weapons, making Terra and his companion back away.

“Again!” The brunette shouted at his companion once the Nightmare had stopped spinning. The man and his Spirit repeated their strategy, taking the enemy down this time. Terra wiped the sweat on his forehead with his arm and let out a “phew,” relieved that they had won this fight without getting hurt as much as in the previous world. He walked back to the old lady and gently took her arm.

“The road is clear, madam. Let’s get out these woods,” he said, a smile on his face. The old woman answered with a smile and they both started to walk, leaving that dark forest. They arrived in a new area, illuminated by the sun; the grass here was bright green, just like in the zone before the woods.

“Where do you need to go?” Terra asked. There were two paths: one leading forward, and the other leading to the left. When the man looked on his left, he noticed someone leaving this part of the world. He only saw the back of that person, but he recognized it immediately, making him freeze where he was standing.

“What’s wrong, young man?” The lady asked, noticing that the brunette’s body was tensed.

Hearing these words made Terra go back to Earth; he shook his head to clear his mind and looked at the old woman next to him.

“I, um… I’m sorry, Your Elderness, I must go now. Will you be safe from now on?”

“Yes, don’t worry about me, my destination is close.” She said, nodding to the young man. “Thank you for helping me, young brave man.” She gave him one last smile and let go of his arm, then started to walk towards the next area forward.

Terra started running to the left, entering a new zone that seemed like leading to a mountain. Unfortunately, he did not see the silhouette from before and he wondered if his mind was tricking him or if what he saw was true. “How could he be here…?” He asked himself, putting a hand on his chin and looking at the ground, as if it had the answers he was looking for.

After a short while, the Keyblade wielder decided to retrace his step. He entered the previous area where he had left the old lady and noticed something on the ground. He walked to it and grabbed it; it was a red apple. “She must have accidentally dropped it, I should give it back to–” He didn’t have the time to finish his sentence that the apple started to glow, rising itself in the air. Terra summoned his Keyblade, knowing what that meant. He pointed the weapon towards the fruit and a ‘click’ could be heard, meaning he saved this world from its slumber. Soon after this, he started to feel sleep, he couldn’t resist to the sensation and closed his eyes, falling on the ground as he fell asleep once again.

*

“You guys got company!” A familiar boyish voice said, entering Yen Sid’s office on top of the Mysterious Tower.

“Ven! Aqua!” Sora shouted, turning himself to the newcomers. “It’s been a while, it’s nice to see you.”

As always, the young brunette put his arms behind his head and happily looked at his two friends. The blue-haired woman and the blonde boy explained what brought them here: Terra, of course. They had this feeling about the Mark of Mastery, about their friend, that he might be in danger during his examination. Therefore, they wanted to be there for him when he would wake up.

Ventus crouched in front of his tall, brunette friends and chuckled. “He looks so serious, even in his sleep.”

“At least, he’s not a sleepyhead like you. Right, Ven?” Aqua said, laughing at her short friend who was now pouting and telling her she’s not funny. She just ruffled his hair, and they both looked at their tall friend, wondering if he was alright, all by himself.

*

The brunette was laying on the ground anew, but this ground wasn’t as comfortable as before. He slowly opened his eyes, starting to get used to fall asleep whenever he was about to go to another world. He stood up and looked around, he could now understand why it wasn’t very comfortable to sleep there: the ground was covered by cobblestone. He stretched a bit before walking to the window of the room, from where he could see a bridge leading to a forest. He concluded that he was in a tower, probably inside a castle. He squinted at the bridge, trying to remember which world it could be.

“This castle!” He gasped. “Aurora!”

Terra ran towards the exit of the room he was in, followed by his dinosaur companion, and ended up in another place where a blonde girl was sleeping in a bed. He reached the bed and started to shake the woman, screaming her name, trying to wake her up.

“She won’t wake up,” a feminine voice said.

The Keyblade wielder turned around and summoned his weapon as soon as he realized who he was facing: Maleficent. “You! What have you done to her!?”

“I’m afraid that you are the one who did this to this poor girl.”

“You manipulated me, you took control of my heart and made me do something awful!”

“Should I be sorry that you are not strong enough to hold the darkness that lies deep within your heart?”

“Shut up!” Terra slammed his Keyblade onto the witch, but it just felt like he was fighting against the air. Maleficent let her evil laugh out, as her silhouette was slowly moving towards the door, leaving the room. Terra’s Spirit decided to run after her, not listening to him when he tried to stop it. “No!” The man shouted, clenching his free fist and tightening his grip on his weapon. “It wasn’t my fault…”

“Or was it?” An old man’s voice said, coming from behind. A voice that the brunette knew way too much.

He suddenly froze, dropping his weapon on the ground. He turned himself to see if he wasn’t just imagining things, but the old, bald, man with yellow eyes was really here, in front of him. Terra started to shake, his eyes widened as he looked at the devil facing him.

“Y-you…”

“Are you afraid, Terra, to see that I am back?”

“Oh, no… I’m not afraid…” The brunette was looking at the ground, clenching his fists more and more, probably to the point that he was hurting himself. His facial expression was only showing rage, a rage that turned into darkness surrounding his body.

‘Terra! You must resist!’

‘Huh?’ The tall man looked up, he wasn’t in Aurora’s castle anymore, he didn’t even know where he was exactly, all he could see was darkness round him. Suddenly, a small beam of light appeared and shaped into Terra’s old master. Seeing this figure in front of him made the young man fall on his knees, a tear rolling on his cheek.

‘M-Master, how… why are you here?’ Terra was confused, he didn’t think he would be able to meet Eraqus ever again.

‘When Xehanort put an end to me, my heart found its way to your heart, remember?’ The old man with scars on his face held out a hand to help his student stand up.

‘Oh, yeah…’ The brunette wiped the tears in his eyes and grabbed his Master’s hand and went back on his feet. ‘So… We’re in my heart, right now?’

‘We are,’ Eraqus nodded. ‘I felt the darkness slowly taking over you so I decided to summon you here. Terra, you have to fight the darkness, don’t let it win again. You can’t let Xehanort have it his way. You must kill the last pieces of him that are still in your heart.’

Terra placed a hand on his chest and closed his eyes. ‘Xehanort… Is still in my heart?’ He told himself. ‘Don’t give in Terra, we believe in you.’ A voice echoed in his head. He saw Aqua and Ventus smiling at him, holding out their hands towards him, welcoming him to the happiness he deserves. He clenched his heart. He thought about his Master’s way, then his mind wandered and he found himself thinking about Master Riku’s experience with the darkness. He knew the silver head had been struggling with the darkness just like him, yet he found a way to use it without giving into it. He knew he was able to find his own way as well.

The tall man opened his eyes and looked straight into his Master’s eyes, with determination in his own gaze. ‘I am going to defeat Xehanort, once and for all.’

On these words, the darkness faded away and the brunette found himself in front of the bald man once again. The latter had a smirk on his face, as always. “Are you finally ready to become my puppet again, Master Terra?”

Terra raised his hand in front of him and his Keyblade quickly materialized in it. He decided not to pay attention to the old man’s nonsense, and went into his fighting stance.

“I will make you disappear for good.”

The young man rushed towards Xehanort and who had summoned his own Keyblade to block the blow coming at him. The bald man grunted, Terra had acquired an immense strength that he did not expected. He pushed him away, but fell down right after.

“Already tired, old man? Come on, it’s just the beginning.”

The brunette lifted his weapon into the air, ready to hit Xehanort with all his might, but once again the Master blocked it after getting back on his feet.

“Your heart will be mine,” Xehanort snickered.

“In your dreams!” Terra shouted back, kicking the old man in the stomach, making him fall down again and groan due to the pain. The tall man placed his blade under the old man’s neck, then moved it in front of his heart. “You’re what prevents me to move on, to become a better person. That lingering piece of you staying in my heart. I must get rid of you now, once and for all. Even if I still have darkness in my heart, I’ll find a way to manage it. As long as it isn’t your darkness, I will be able to do anything. My friends are my power, and I know that they will always be by my side, no matter what.”

With that being said, the brunette pressed his blade onto Xehanort’s chest, releasing the old and dark heart from the old body. While the body was fading away, the tall man pointed his weapon at the dark ball floating, a beam of light from the Keyblade appeared and a ‘click’ could be heard, freeing this world from its slumber, and freeing Terra from the last pieces of Xehanort remaining.

*

The brown-haired man opened his deep blue eyes and saw his two best friends’ pairs of eyes staring at him. The blue-haired woman was smiling at him, trying to reassure the man, he did a good job and deserved to rest. While the blonde boy was looking at him in awe, gaping.

“Close your mouth, flies may get in,” Terra said, chuckling, before slowly getting up and stretching.

Ventus gasped and immediately closed his mouth, making everyone in the room laugh. The tall man looked around and greeted Sora, Donald and Goofy. He was surprised that Ventus and Aqua were here too, he thought they would be waiting for him at the Land of Departure, but he was happy to see them here after succeeding such a hard task. Yen Sid coughed to make the little crowd realize his presence; Terra and Sora stood in front of him, all tensed up before he told them to relax.

“Sora, Terra,” the man started to say. “You have both succeeded in your missions. Sora, you have proved yourself worthy of wielding the Keyblade and you have grown up from the mistakes that you made on the previous examination. I can now grant you the title of ‘Keyblade Master’.”

The short brunette was trying to say serious in this situation, but he was really happy inside. After all his hard work, he had finally succeeded and he was now equal to his best friend, Riku. He simply bowed to the Master as a thank you.

“Terra,” the old man continued. “You, too, have proved yourself worthy of the Keyblade. You have managed to defeat the last pieces of Xehanort that were in your heart, and you have now a hold on your darkness. I am granting you the title of ‘Keyblade Master’.”

“Thank you, Master.” Terra replied, bowing just like Sora. The tall brunette turned himself to his friends and smiled at them. He then turned to the other brunette and nodded. “We did it, Sora.”

“Yeah!” The small boy replied.

Terra remembered one of the first times Sora talked to him, some days before the examination. The small brunette had come to talk to the other one about the Mark of Mastery exam, he needed some help about it, some help that Riku wouldn’t be able to provide since he had passed it on his first try, but Sora knew that the tall man had failed as well, hence why he decided to talk to him.

The two of them had talked until late at night that day, about how they both failed because of Xehanort, and they ended up cheering each other about the next examination they would have to pass. They promised each other to work hard and that they would both succeed this time. Which they did and they both felt stronger than they were before, physically stronger, but their heart also felt stronger.

The tall brunette came back to Earth and ruffled the other brunette’s hair before everyone decided to have a small celebration party.


End file.
